During the four years' war commencing 1861 the colored people fled from bondage, and gathered in large numbers around Washington, and in those parts of Virginia which were in possession of the United States Government. Sometimes one thousand refugees came to the freedmen's settlement in a week, and most of them had travelled on foot for several days, with scant food and clothing. They rejoiced greatly when they arrived at a place of refuge, and became free men and women. The able-bodied men were employed by the Government, but the sick and aged, the women and children, were cared for by different benevolent associations of the churches at the North and West. The Religious Society of Friends always cherished a deep feeling for the enslaved people of color, and after sending agents to ascertain the condition of the freedmen in the camps and quarters assigned to them by the Government, they earnestly labored to feed, clothe and teach those for whom they had long solicited the boon of freedom. Believing some incidents and anecdotes from letters received from the agents of Friends will be interesting to many, the following extracts are presented: "It is difficult to make a connected account of our visit among the freedmen at Washington and elsewhere. We went into their cabins, the tents, and the hospitals, looking into the condition of the poor people congregated there. Their stories may be considered almost trifling in themselves, and yet summed up as a whole--a people's history--they tell the oft-repeated tale of sorrow, degradation, and oppression in slavery; of hunger and cold, of sickness and suffering, patiently and uncomplainingly borne, in their great struggle for freedom. Every sacrifice, every privation seems insignificant compared to the blessed boon of liberty, to them and to their children. 'The good Lord Jesus has at last heard our prayers and sent Uncle Abram to set us free.' "They come to the Union as little children would to a parent, with perfect confidence that they will be helped. The younger women mostly had their children with them, but the older ones had all come off 'wid 'lations and friends.' In a severe snow-storm one thousand arrived, with only the clothes on their backs. Their utter poverty is terrible. During this storm we had not clothes for the children, who were crying to get out of bed. Nine hundred came yesterday--all ragged; their masters had not given them clothes, some for a year, others for two years. All beg for Bibles." * * * * * "The rope-walk is a very long building divided into cabins; it is where the refugees come at first. In each cabin live four or five families. It is the most interesting place to visit. There are over five hundred people there, fresh from slave-life, and rejoicing over their freedom. Not being able to read, they often burst out as we are reading to them with, 'Well, I never heard that before.'